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T’ai Chi Unites the mind, body, heart

When a lot of people got sick due to population explosion and lack of sufficient medical care, in 1956, during the communist revolution, top t’ai chi practitioners and masters in China got together and met officials in physical health education in Beijing. They came up with a short programme of teaching t’ai chi at a national level.

Visiting Chenjiagou village, in north-central China, the birthplace of t’ai chi, in 2004, i was astounded to see the entire staff of a small office, performing tai chi together before entering the office. I also had the privilege of watching women folk in the village ending their day with the slow-motion movements of t’ai chi. The healthy practice of ending the day with some t’ai chi instead of remaining glued to the TV set or mobile phone would not only melt away the aches and pains acquired during the day but also induce a truly restful and peaceful sleep.

T’ai chi’s social benefits are well documented. Push Hands, an important and interesting facet of tai chi, where two people pair off – one uses his hands to push the partner, the partner yields and neutralises the first and maintains his equilibrium – has been shown to have psychological value. It has tremendous healing effect on those suffering loneliness.

What makes t’ai chi so special is its internal secrets. All moves involve bending and stretching. It starts with opening and closing in the joints. The joints get smaller while closing and expand while opening. Then, the same is done to the practitioner’s internal organs and blood vessels. At the physical level, this raises the practitioner’s vitality and aliveness. T’ai chi unites the mind, body, and heart exponentially. Eventually, this opening and closing goes all the way to the cellular level, and is called Chi Kung which literally means energy work.

China has many forms of Chi Kung. A foundational chi kung move that is used in more than 100 different ways, is standing. The simple act of standing can teach you how to get internal alignments together, how to get the chi to circulate up and down your body. It teaches you to put the mind inside the body so you can relax it. Combining the standing posture with inner dissolving enables you to deal positively with extreme stress, exhaustion and mood swings.

According to t’ai chi classics, the lower dantian – the area between the navel and the pubic bone – is the energetic centre that affects every action you make. It is the body’s main switch box. A part of your mind should always remain present in your lower dantian. If everything comes from your lower dantian, it floods all the energy channels of your body evenly and balances them. The increased energy in the lower dantian increases your sense of physicality in everything you do, be it health, power, strength or focus. The lower dantian not only governs the energies of your physicality but also your sense of life and death. So, if a person wishes to be very physically alive and vibrant, then he needs to focus on the lower dantian. In terms of health, martial arts and meditation, this region of the body is absolutely essential.
T’ai chi unites the mind, body, heart and all your emotions and gives you an authentic experience of how life ought to be lived.